Siege of Wareham

The Siege of Wareham occurred in 875 during the Viking invasions of England. The Viking army of Guthrum captured the Anglo-Saxon fortress of Wareham from Wessex at the start of his campaign to conquer the kingdom, which would ultimately be defeated at the Battle of Edington.

Background
In the aftermath of the Battle of Ashdown and the death of King Aethelred of Wessex in 872, the new West Saxon king Alfred the Great paid the Viking rulers Guthrum and Ubbe Ragnarrsson to withdraw from Wessex and return to Lundun and East Anglia. By 875, however, the Vikings were ready for another invasion of Wessex. The West Saxon vassal Uhtred of Bebbanburg spotted a small foraging party deep in Wessex near Liscumb, and he later spotted a force of about 300 Danes marching through the woods; these belonged to Ragnar Ragnarsson, who had returned from Ireland with an army. The combined Danish armies of Guthrum and Ragnar invaded Wessex, eluded the West Saxon levies, and captured the fortress of Wareham, slaughtering its inhabitants. Alfred had all of his ealdormen raise their levies, and he marched on Wareham with his nobles and their army.

Siege
Alfred and his army waited outside the city walls, and Guthrum predicted that Alfred would not attack, as he knew that the city would starve after a few days. Ragnar suggested the possibility of raiding, but Alfred emptied all of the granaries in the area, ensuring that the city could not be held. Instead, Guthrum rode out with the objective of making peace, expecting to be bribed to retreat. The two sides' leaders rode out to parley, and Guthrum greeted Alfred by saying that he was now King of East Anglia. Guthrum proposed a truce and offered to leave by sea on no more than 15 ships; Alfred offered to supply the defenders with food and ale for just one month as they waited, or they could walk back to East Anglia. Guthrum agreed to prepare to leave once the food and ale had arrived. As a guarantee of peace, both sides exchanged 10 hostage, and Alfred sent Father Selbix as one of the hostages, asking him to provide spiritual instruction to Guthrum and attempt to convert him to Christianity. Another hostage would be Uhtred, who would serve as Alfred's eyes and ears within the fortress, and would escape to light a warning fire once Ubbe returned from Ireland and the Vikings killed the hostages. Guthrum provided the hostages with beds inside of the church, and they were initially treated well. However, Ubbe's fleet from Ireland arrived on the Severn, and the fleet from London was also near; Guthrum stabbed Father Selbix in the chest at the church and ordered the other hostages to be killed, preparing for battle. Uhtred was released after Ragnar interceded on his behalf, and Uhtred went on to light the warning brazier to warn Alfred of Ubbe's approach.